Denied warranty on your inverter or battery?

[GinnyErns]

Looking for others who may have a new car and have been denied warranty coverage because the dealer said you damaged the car, or didn't drive it right. What ever reason they give to denie coverage. My 2007 Prius only has 5000 miles and when the car died I tried to jump start it. It started but wouldn't hold a charge so tech said to have car towed into the dealer which I did. Now they say I damaged the car so they want me to pay over $5500 in repairs. Has anyone else out there been thru this ordeal????

[Prius driver]

Originally Posted by GinnyErns

Looking for others who may have a new car and have been denied warranty coverage because the dealer said you damaged the car, or didn't drive it right. What ever reason they give to denie coverage. My 2007 Prius only has 5000 miles and when the car died I tried to jump start it. It started but wouldn't hold a charge so tech said to have car towed into the dealer which I did. Now they say I damaged the car so they want me to pay over $5500 in repairs. Has anyone else out there been thru this ordeal????

This has not happened to me personally. However, I have read other threads and post relating to this topic. According to what I have read on these forums the damage is caused by reversing the jumper cables. I just don't believe many people would do this. Thank you all for the heads up. I will make sure to deny any jump starting to the dealer.

[brick]

Have you looked into getting a salvage inverter yet?

[Boo]

I would also consider challenging the dealer's denial with Toyota and/or arbitration. Your Warranty Booklet sets forth the challenging procedure.

[GinnyErns]

Have not looked into used inverters yet. Still waiting to get a formal estimate from dealer in the mail as I live 85 miles away. Then will see if a friend of mine can help talk to the manager of the dealership. I did file a complaint with Corp. Customer Relations and they just repeated word for word what the tech said....ie my faul not theirs....All my books are in the car and the car is at the dealership....who is the arbitrator....if it is a Toyota employee forget it .....there won't be any give and take there.....

[Boo]

What reason did Toyota give for denying coverage? Did they say that you reversed the jumper cables?

In any event, the arbitrator is an independent third party, the National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS). I don't know much about the arbitration. But I know the cost is free to you. And you have to first file a completed customer claim form with NCDS:

National Center for Dispute Settlement
P.O. Box 561109
Dallas, TX 75356-1109

There's a customer claim form in the center of your Owner's Warranty Rights Notification booklet (which is a different booklet from your warranty booklet which is called the Prius Owner's Warranty Information booklet).

Or you can call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 800-331-4331 to request a form (but be prepared to provide your VIN number, current mileage and the names of your selling and servicing dealerships).

Or email me at llgmwork@aol.com , and I'll email you back a scanned copy of the form.

Good luck.

[GinnyErns]

Thanks Tom ....that may be my last alternative. They denied warranty because they said no parts were defective. Yet today in the mail I got a copy of the form they sent as a result of my request for an estimate of work. There was no written explanation of the work to be done or why....just a sheet that said "additional part authorization"...on there they had a line item that said battery....and in the cost column it said "warranty-defective-battery".......then they scratched that out and put a price below it.
And when the car was towed into them I left a note saying check battery, won't hold a charge and car won't start..................this authorization sheet is the first time in a month of discussions with them that they even mentioned the battery.....yet that was my first question to them. The car wouldn't start one day.......how is that my fault.....and why wouldn't that be covered under warranty.............